The lower number of cases was due partly to the fact that fewer swab-tests were conducted, the health ministry said on Friday.

The overall tally of cases has increased to 37,183.

Singapore plans to give a wearable device to identify people who have interacted with coronavirus carriers to all of its 5.7 million residents, in what might become one of the most-comprehensive contact tracing efforts globally.

The small device, which could be worn on the end of a lanyard or carried in a handbag, follows glitches with an earlier smartphone-based bluetooth system which limited take up of the technology.

Singapore, with one of the highest COVID-19 caseloads in Asia, is one of many countries trying to develop technology to allow them to exit lockdowns and safely restart their economies.

"We are developing and will soon roll out a portable wearable device that will ... not depend on possession of a smartphone," Vivian Balakrishnan, the minister in charge of the smart nation initiative said on Friday.

"If this portable device works, we may then distribute it to everyone in Singapore."

The government did not specify whether carrying the device would be mandatory.

Australian Associated Press